Suspect Arraigned as Rites Are Held for 3 Slain in Church
LA CROSSE, Wis. — As relatives mourned at a joint funeral today for a priest and two other men slain last Thursday in a Roman Catholic church, a 29-year-old man who called himself after the prophet Elijah was arraigned on murder charges in the shotgun slayings.
The suspect, Bryan Stanley, entered no plea to three charges of first-degree murder. Bail was set at $155,000 and a preliminary hearing was set for Feb. 21.
Stanley was arrested outside St. Patrick’s Church in Onalaska after the shootings. Police said he claimed to be Elijah and that he had objected to Rossiter allowing sixth-grade girls to read Scriptures during Mass.
Meanwhile, the Rev. John Rossiter, lay minister Ferdinand Roth and church custodian William Hammes were eulogized as “gifts from God†during a funeral Mass.
“Jesus wept,†said the Rev. Bernard McGarty. “The shortest verse in the Bible has the longest meaning for us today.â€
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